Since Tuesday, 15 September, at nine in the morning the centre of Kyiv turns red for sixty seconds. Traffic lights at eighteen installations between European Square and Ukrainian Heroes Square switch to a simultaneous stop signal for cars, pedestrians and cyclists, the city's public-address loudspeakers announce the start of the minute of silence and count it down, and surface public transport comes to a halt. At 9:01 the city moves on.
The launch of the "Red for All" mode was announced by the Transport Infrastructure Department of the Kyiv City State Administration, and the start itself was confirmed by the Traffic Management Centre, the utility that actually switches the lights.
The first stage covers eighteen signalled installations on ten streets and squares: Ukrainian Heroes Square, European Square, Taras Shevchenko Boulevard, Bessarabskyi Passage, and Khreshchatyk, Baseina, Velyka Vasylkivska, Yevhena Chykalenka, Volodymyrska and Prorizna streets. The city promises to extend the mode "as technical capacity allows". There are two exceptions: during an air-raid alert the lights run as usual, and ambulances, fire engines and police with their beacons on pass without restriction. The rules on running a red light have not changed.
Photo: Kyiv City State Administration / kyivcity.gov.uaThe decision itself was adopted by Kyiv City Council on 3 September, on the mayor's instruction and in response to an appeal from council members currently serving in the Armed Forces. It was explained by deputy head of the city administration Kostiantyn Usov.
Kostiantyn Usovdeputy head of the Kyiv City State Administration for self-government powers, member of Kyiv City CouncilWe cannot bring back those who came home on their shields. But we can make sure their sacrifice does not become background noise. That it does not dissolve in the din of the city. That in the capital of Ukraine remembrance is visible, tangible and shared. It is a simple but very important city standard of respect.
What the decree says, and what the law says
The nationwide minute of silence was introduced by Presidential Decree No. 143/2022 of 16 March 2022: every day at 9:00, announced by all media. The Cabinet, regional administrations and the Kyiv city administration were told to "ensure it is held", including in schools. The decree says nothing at all about stopping traffic, sirens or traffic lights; that has been a local decision from the start.
This year the minute of silence became law. On 11 February parliament passed Law No. 4783-IX with 260 votes, and on 6 March the President signed it. The law obliges local authorities to inform residents when the minute begins and ends, and allows it to be announced through the media and civil-protection warning systems. On 22 May the government separately permitted the use of warning systems for the daily 9:00 announcement. Stopping traffic is not required by law: Kyiv's red light goes beyond the norm, not with it.
What happens in Kyiv region
The region started stopping the road before the capital did. On 22 September 2025 the then head of the Kyiv Regional Military Administration, Mykola Kalashnyk, announced that traffic on the central streets of the region's towns and villages would stop every day at 9:00, and three days later added that the practice had been launched together with the Kyiv region police. "One minute. Sixty seconds of silence. But in that silence, louder than any words, sounds a boundless gratitude to those who gave their lives for Ukraine's independence," he wrote at the time.
In February 2026, discussing how to implement the new law, the regional administration summed up: "in many communities traffic is stopped, and a minute of silence is announced in schools, state institutions and at enterprises". There is no traffic-light mode like Kyiv's in the region: where the road is stopped, it is done together with the police. Since 26 August the regional administration and the Kyiv region police have posted a 9:00 reminder every morning.
In Bucha district the picture is patchy. Since 24 September 2025 Bucha has closed the Polova–Enerhetykiv junction every morning, the only standing decision in the district with a specific address; the city council has published nothing since about extending or cancelling it.
On 30 September 2025 the Borodianka community announced that it stops traffic on the central streets of its villages and the town for one minute every day. Makariv council has urged the community every day since January 2025 to "Stop! Remember! Give thanks!", and on the anniversary of the invasion asked people to stop "on every street and at every junction"; it has announced no closure of its own.
Photo: Kyiv Region PoliceIrpin has no daily decision yet; traffic has been stopped on single occasions: on 1 October 2024 at eight locations from the roundabout by the water utility to Soborna Street by the Zhyraf mall, and on 29 August 2025 on the Romanivskyi bridge together with police, rescuers and the National Guard. After the 2024 Day of Remembrance, mayor Oleksandr Markushyn said that some minibus drivers had not stopped that day and promised to talk to the carrier. The Hostomel settlement administration and Vyshneve city council have published no decisions of their own about 9:00.
| Community | What happens at 9:00 | Since |
|---|---|---|
| Kyiv | "Red for All" traffic lights at 18 installations in the centre, surface transport stops, countdown over loudspeakers | 15.09.2026 |
| Bucha | Polova–Enerhetykiv junction closed for one minute | 24.09.2025 |
| Borodianka | Traffic stopped on the central streets of the community's settlements for one minute | 30.09.2025 |
| Makariv | Daily call to stop; no closure announced | since January 2025 |
| Irpin | One-off stops on memorial dates (eight locations on 01.10.2024, Romanivskyi bridge on 29.08.2025); no daily decision | — |
| Hostomel, Vyshneve | No decisions of their own published; formally covered by the regional decision on central streets | — |
How other cities do it
Lviv region stopped transport at regional level as early as the winter of 2025: on 14 February the regional Defence Council ruled that at 9:00 every vehicle in built-up areas stops for a minute, except emergency vehicles, with police reminding drivers each morning. Vinnytsia has been down the road the capital now faces: at first not all of the more than 250 public-transport vehicles that go out each day stopped, so residents sent fleet numbers to the city council, and within three months the transport began to stop. Every morning a trumpeter plays by the Tower there.
In Odesa selected junctions have switched to red for everyone at 9:00 since 26 November 2025, and by the end of February there were already sixteen of them. Kyiv itself took a year to get to automation: from 23 September 2025 Khreshchatyk was closed every morning from European Square to Shevchenko Boulevard, which the then head of the city military administration, Tymur Tkachenko, described as being done "not systematically, but by hand". This autumn's council decision settled the matter.
Photo: Kyiv City State Administration / kyivcity.gov.uaHow to join in at 9:00
There is no traffic-light mode in Bucha district, and traffic stops are limited to individual junctions and central streets, so for the most part the minute rests on each person individually. The ceremonial drafted by the Institute of National Remembrance together with the Vshanui (Honour) civic group is simple: stop, put your business aside, remember the dead. Standing up, placing a hand on your heart, bowing your head or folding your hands in prayer is "voluntary, at each person's own discretion", not prescribed.
Photo: Kyiv Region Police- On foot. Stop where you are, put the phone away, take out the earphones.
- At the wheel. The traffic rules still apply, so no sudden stops in moving traffic. If it is safe, pull over to the kerb in advance or wait at the stop line with your hazard lights on; if not, simply turn the music off and do not honk at those who have stopped ahead of you.
- On a minibus or bus. The driver may hold at a stop for a minute; Kyiv's surface transport does the same. Passengers need only stand or simply keep quiet.
- In a shop, cafe or at work. Many businesses open at 8:55 so that the day starts with the minute of silence; music and adverts go off for a minute.
- So as not to miss it. Reminders go out every morning on the channels of the regional administration and the Kyiv region police; in Kyiv the cue comes from the Kyiv Digital app and the loudspeakers, while in Bucha district for now it is only the clock, so set an alarm for 8:59.
As a reminder, in August Bucha honoured those murdered during the occupation with a minute of silence at the walls of St Andrew's Church.
Nota bene
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